maniAC: An ACJC site

Playing for Founder’s Day

Hello!!

Yesterday, the 27th of Feburary was AC’s 123rd Founder’s Day!

I believe that most ACsians saw the Harp Ensemble gathered at the lobby to play for our Guest Of Honour. It’s quite ‘tickling’ to see people walk by and glance at the Ensemble. I even overheard a J1 say that her friend wanted to join the Ensemble and I truly hope that our appearance at the lobby yesterday will attract more interested J1s to join!!

For the Ensemble, playing at Founder’s Day was something that we had been looking forward to since the start of the year and we really had so much fun playing yesterday! It really is a joy to be able to play such wonderful music and share it with others. We played 2 songs (“Flower Duet” and “Dance of the Harps”) from 7:15 a.m.  to 7:45 a.m. before going for a short break after which we continued. Once the Guest of Honour arrived, we all stablised our nervous fingers and played “Flower Duet” for him to enjoy. We only started to play “Dance of the Harps” after the guests left the office to make their way up to the Hall for the Service.

It was rather frightening to play at such a grand event but we managed to pull through and we played our very best that morning. Indeed, this experience will make every single one of us in the Ensemble more confident to play during SYF!!

Last but not least, I’m really proud to say that amongst the 14 of us playing yesterday, 2 were J1s who already had harp experience!

It really was a job well done and I can’t wait for more performances!!

Signing Off,

Miss Harr-Py.

Banzai! Banzai!

by Joanne Teo

You might be wondering what on earth this is about, reader.

This article has to do with the land of the rising sun in general, and I shall talk about everything related to it (not that I’m very knowledgeable), including its variety of vending machines, the different kinds of people, Pokemon and the special type of English they speak- also known as ‘engrish’ (a sample of which you can see in the above picture). I’m not going to mock them or anything, so rest assured this will be a ‘healthy’ article.

If you’re not already interested in this topic or country, I recommend that you stay and read on. Just for fun, you know. Doesn’t matter if you’re more interested in the French or Americans or Koreans, doesn’t matter if you find this somewhat overrated; take this as some form of entertainment, and you might get curiouser and curiouser about Japanland (a special nickname for it). But I can’t guarantee you will take an immediate liking to it.

SO LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS.

Now, I know that most of you, by looking at the above picture, would immediately think of Chinese words. But that is not the case! There are similarities between the Chinese and the Japanese, so much so that people often mistake the Chinese for Japanese and vice versa (they are also sometimes mistaken as Koreans too). There is no denying that most Asians look alike, but are actually different in terms of their lifestyles, food culture etc. So let me skip all this since most of you get the idea (I hope… Uh, no offense). I won’t talk about Japanese anime, games, music, idols or dramas, not yet anyway, but I’ll be more than happy to hear about them from you guys out there!

On to today’s topic: ‘Engrish’.  I’m not sure of its origins, though I’m pretty sure there’s a Wikipedia article on it somewhere. As with ‘Chinglish’ and ‘Indlish’, as well as ‘Singlish’ (Chinese-English, Indian-English and the last one is self-explanatory) it’s not supposed to sound like normal English at all.

I shall explain the above picture which has Engrish on it. You’d have known by now what it means: ‘STAFF ONLY’. But it is written as ‘STAFF ONRY‘. It is funny, yes, it makes you want to lol, yes, but let me tell you why it is written like that. The Japanese Hiiragana (their word/character system as with our English words and letters) does not include an ‘L’ sound, instead it replaces the ‘L’ with the ‘R’. That is why if they pronounce or write the word ‘only’, it comes out as ‘onry’ instead.

Why do I know this? Check the web, dudes. Alternatively, pick up Japanese lessons. I’m sure it’d be useful.

Anyway. Want to hear more or see more funny ‘Engrish’ captions? Go to engrish.com!

つづく。。。

(TSUZUKU: TO BE CONTINUED…)

P.S: Banzai means ‘ten thousand years’ but is actually used as ‘hurray’. I think.

Trying New Things: Chatting up random people

By V

For all of my life, I have never been the social butterfly sort. Sometimes I wonder if being so emotionally detached from the rest of the world has affected my ability to even communicate with people comprehensively. Doubtless, it’s a sad thought.

This is probably the first ‘official’ article I am going to write for maniAC; I want it to be a meaningful one, and so, I have chosen this as a topic. It means a lot to me, and hopefully, it means something to you as well.

In my Primary school days, I was always the one in the corner, silently watching the world passed by. In my early Secondary school days, my nose was always stuck in a book, and during recess, I while away time by spending time with myself in the library (alone!) . It was not that I did not have any friends – as a matter of fact, my best friend from primary school has remained my best friend till today, a decade after I met her.

Things improved slightly during my later secondary school days. I found a nice group of friends, and eventually, I learnt to be more sociable. They were always the funny, chatty sort, and so, they imparted to me not only my improved social skills but a sense of humour. (Yes, I was never the funny sort of person until then.)

Classmates from my primary school days probably would not recognise me now. I am now not as quiet as I’d like myself to be. And even some of my witty (?) comments make me cringe inwardly. I can be silent when I want to, and yet, I can be like all the rest of the social butterflies if I want to be (if my mood allows, of course).

And so, just for the amusement of you precious readers, I have switched on my ‘social’ button, and actually braved the stares to chat up someone random for your entertainment.

It went something like this:

Me: Hello! What’s your name?

Stranger: [whispers something incoherent]

Me: Sorry, what?

Stranger: Tom*… [in a voice barely above a whisper]

Me: Oh… I see… What CCA did you join?

Stranger: [shuffles uncomfortably for a bit and mutters something]

Me: Err… Sorry?

Stranger: Track and Field. [Again, I could barely hear it.]

Me: I see… So, what do you do there?

Stranger: [mutters something]

Me: Oh. Err… All right, I will see you around. [pretends to understand and makes a quick escape]

I honestly hope this is not a reflection of how poorly I start conversations. Yes. It has to be because of my poor, shy victim. Yes, it has to be that.

“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.”

Louis E. Boone

*Names have been changed to ensure the anonymity of my poor victim.

Time is

Time is
Seemingly linear
Digits that dictate when we do
What we do

Time is
Priceless and should never be compared with money
Just like how we can never exchange time for money
Money can’t purchase time either

And I don’t have the slightest idea how to change things
To bring us back to how we were in the past-
Carefree, not burdened;
Friends, not strangers.

by Priscilla Chan

WATCH THIS, FRIENDS : lost generation

Rugby SCC Sevens Tournament 2008

By Mr Lim Dayang

On the 8th and 9th of November, the ACJC Rugby team participated in the prestigious SCC Sevens annual tournament. Being five-year consecutive champions, the expectations and pressure on the team could not have been any greater. Nevertheless, the players were filled with excitement as they were keen to retain their trophy.

Day one of the tournament included group matches against UWC, who were last years’ finalists, OFS and Ngee Ann Poly. Despite trailing for most of the game, we managed to come up with two late tries, stealing the first match from UWC 12-5. Following that came comfortable wins over OFS and Ngee Ann as we eased through to the quarter finals. Going into the next day of the tournament, many of the players knew that it would be much more challenging. However, we managed to live up to expectations, with a solid performance, brushing OFS aside.

The semi finals found us pitted against our traditional rivals, Saint Andrews. It was a tense and close encounter. Both teams had opportunities to shine as the game shot up and down the field. Victory was not to be for Saint Andrews though, as Ong Szu Ker’s efforts put ACJC in the lead early in the game, which enabled the team to take control, eventually winning 12-0.

So there it was again. ACJC was to face UWC, in a repeat of the previous year’s final. The 7 players took the field, knowing that the next fifteen minutes would be like no other game they’d played before. We started well, and once again it was Ong Szu Ker, later named player of the tournament, who steered ACJC into the lead. However, UWC responded soon after and took the lead 5-7, to the delight of their many supporters. Going into half time, we knew that we had to be the next team to score if we wanted to stay in the game. And we did. A brilliant team effort was completed by Daniel Looi, as ACJC displayed their class and silenced the UWC supporters; travelling more than half the field to score the try. The last few minutes saw UWC desperate to regain their lead. But this was going to be ACJC’s day. An ingenious borrowing of soccer skills by Ahmad Isa saw him kick the ball several times, before desperately diving across the try line, to seal ACJC’s victory. It was indeed a joyous occasion for ACJC Rugby as we lifted up the Sitawalla Cup once again.

The ACJC 2008 SCC sevens team are: Ong Szu Ker(c), Ahmad Isa(vc), Andrew Ong, Alexander Prentice, Keith Tan, Daniel Looi, Gabriel Oon, Mohammad Fadhil, Edmund Teo.

Isn’t it A Lovely Day By Irving Berlin… A song to sing in the X-country rain

By BERliN

The weather is fright’ning
The thunder and lightning
Seem to be having their way
But as far as I’m
concerned, it’s a lovely
day

The turn in the weather
Will keep us together
So I can honestly say
That as far as I’m
concerned, it’s a lovely day
And everything’s O.K.

Isn’t this a lovely day
To be caught in the rain?
You were going on your way
Now you’ve got to remain

Just as you were going,
leaving me all at sea
The clouds broke, they broke and oh!
What a break for me

I can see the sun up high
Tho’ we’re caught in the storm
I can see where you and I
Could be cozy and warm

Let the rain pitter patter
But it really doesn’t matter
If the skies are gray
Long as I can be with you
it’s a lovely day

‘Lovely’ is a word that is rarely used nowadays. The last time I heard someone say the word ‘Lovely’ was when my great-grandmother described the time she had at a dinner party. But ‘Lovely’ is a word that we should use more often and is a word that may not be associated with today’s Cross Country run.

The afternoon started with pouring sun and ended in blazing rain, not exactly the loveliest of weather but somehow everything’s OK.

Many people started the day hoping and praying that it would rain. Many of us prefer not to  run . However much to our dismay the clouds didn’t break and oh, no break for us. Then it did rain when we least expected and wanted it to.

Nothing seems to bring people together like rain. As people scrambled towards shelter under umbrellas we will find ourselves sharing an umbrella with someone we never really talk to. We will find ourselves grabbing the bags of strangers to put in a safe place and following strangers to shelter. So yes, you were going on your way, now you’ve got to remain. Let the rain pitter-patter but it doesn’t really matter if the skies are grey, as long as I can be with you it’s a lovely day.

To say that people were unhappy with today’s weather arrangements would be untrue. People embraced the stormy weather and were happy just to be with each other in the shelter of the Void Deck of Block 244 on Ang Mo Kio Ave 3. There were the loud hailers that shouted instructions to whoever would listen. The Choir People were hanging around, waiting together for the rain to stop so as to be able to leave together…people hanging around just waiting for the rain to stop in general and people hanging around who were entertained by Xue Yi’s and Loga’s attempted performance. I can see the sun up high though we’re caught in the storm, can you?

So yes, the weather is frightening, the thunder and lightning seemed to be having their way, but as far as I’m concerned… Its a Lovely day.

p.s. the song written by Irving Berlin here is not the the same person who wrote the post, aka me.

pp.s. for Photos please refer to Ms Chng’s article on the Cross country.

Introducing MisterTIPSE aka “Tipsy”

By Julian Tan

Not too long ago, I managed to get a hold of my new found class buddy, Mr. TIPSE (or Tipsy, as I like to call him). Yeah, I’m expecting him to stick with me through two years of lectures and help me significantly in my school work. Who am I talking about, you may ask? The Texas Instruments-84 Plus Silver Edition (TIPSE). Standing at 19cm tall, 8.4 cm wide, 2.2cm thick and weighing a fierce 208 grams, the malevolent beast looks as if he could kill or crush any of the basic scientific calculators we used to conquer the ‘O’-Levels.

Tipsy also has a three figure price to match his monstrosity. The $176 deal included the graphing calculator, two connecting wires (one for inter-calculator action, and another for calculator-computer activity), and four AAA batteries in one extremely tightly sealed package. How tightly sealed? I tried opening the package with a pair of ordinary scissors and after ten minutes, switched to kitchen scissors (yes, the sort that butchers use) and just barely managed to scratch the plastic – that’s how tightly sealed it was.

Sure, Tipsy can be used to solve logarithmic, trigonometric and graphing questions and so forth! But apart from its being used for work, Tipsy does possess an element of play as well

For example, Tipsy let’s you draw stuff on his graph interface

So if you’re feeling a little down, seeing your Tipsy smile at you could brighten up your day a little

Or perhaps, when you’re feeling terribly bored, you can play the set of games that Tipsy has pre-installed! (Not during lectures though!)

And if you’re more of the techy sort, you might want to import classic games such as Tetris into Tipsy for countless hours of fun! (Find out yourself! No way I’m going to teach you!)

So yeah, that’s just a taste of what Tipsy can truly do. The incredible amount of power he possesses goes up all the way to our childhood favourites Super Mario, Sonic and Megaman!

Now remember kids, Tipsy is an expensive tool, so write your name on it, do take good care of it, and don’t leave it lying around!

The package does state “Best for High School and University”, so yeah I do hope it really helps most of us in the academic aspects of our school life.

Have a nice day.

Crafts

By Catherine Tang

It is a universally acknowledged fact that Asians and facial hair don’t look good together. Yeah yeah, so you have 17 straggly hairs growing on the base of your chin. Good job. But that doesn’t count as a brilliant beard, honey. Erin Dollar, a crafter from Portland loves beards. In fact, she’s so crazy about beards that she makes tons of them! Pink beards, white beards, dark day beards!

Be inspired.

A Little Slice of Random

By: Sarah Wong

It actually amazes me sometimes. It seriously is wonderful that we can derive the utmost pleasure from something so fleeting and transient. It’s there for one epic, glorious moment and the next moment it’s gone, with only sweet memories to mark its existence. By now, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. It’s all about food.

Perhaps, it’s just me but I find food endlessly fascinating and not to forget, divinely scrumptious. We need it for sustenance to keep us going, for the vitamins for growth and before I sound like a Home Economics Teacher, for the sheer and simple fact that it tastes awesomely good. I could go on pontificating on the goodness of all things edible but I think you should have gotten the point already.

The reason why I’m going on about the splendid creation known as food is because I unfortunately am afflicted with the horrible disease know universally as writer’s block. Hence, the only thing that comes to mind now is food and what a wonderful subject it is.

Starting a new school with a completely unfamiliar environment is often a daunting experience. No, it is a daunting experience. Uprooted from the safe confines of your secondary school that has been your home for four years and tossed into a sprawling campus that both awes and terrifies, the only thing that seems remotely comforting is the canteen, the place common to all schools. The routine of sitting down to eat and make conversation with friends over food appears to be a port in a storm of hectic JC life.

Anglo-Chinese Junior College’s canteen is no exception, boasting a myriad of stalls with a serious selection of delectable treats. I could once again espouse the greatness of the canteen but since you’re reading this, I would venture a guess that you go to ACJC and hence do not require any description that probably would not live up to reality.

Thus, from my first few weeks in ACJC, what remains are some considerably dearer memories from the time spent in the canteen mucking around with new friends, chancing upon old ones and just enjoying the delicious treats. Somehow or other, the canteen is a place of contradictions , being  both a place of serenity and commotion and a place of comfort and excitement. You have the loud conversations that reverberate throughout the canteen, and other people quietly munching. There’s nothing quite like it.

As I’m writing this, I’m munching on a remarkably scrumptious muffin and will say that without a doubt, food definitely makes everything better, regardless of the calories.

Cross-Country 2009: a teacher’s perspective

I have fond memories of every single one of the ACJC cross-country events that I’ve participated in. How could I forget, say, ACJC Cross-Country 2002: The Mudbath? Or the extraordinary ACJC Cross-Country 2007: Sahara? So when Oldham’s housemistress Ms Lim Oon Hua asked me if I would run this Wednesday, I naturally said yes. And I’m glad I did, for the experience constitutes the latest exciting chapter in my cross-country history. It’s ACJC Cross-Country 2009: The Deluge.

Still, it was lots of fun while the good weather lasted. There were high spirits:

There were students brimming with love and joy, comforting those who for some reason or other were unable to take part in the race:

Not to mention sunshine and flowers and a general festive feeling:

And, after the rain started, the students got to see the entire ACJC teaching staff under a single tent, packed like sardines and every bit as damp. A sight that is arguably worth running 3.2 km to behold.

Last but quite the opposite of least, I’m sure I’m expressing the sentiments of the whole school when I say: a million thanks to the staff and students who put everything together. These are the people who also had to tidy up, and drag all the paraphernalia of the event back to school, even after the rest of us had waded off. For this alone, you deserve a full year’s supply of hot and cold Milo.

“Those boys are SO slow! When our turn comes, we’re gonna ANNIHILATE them.”

Overheard in History Class

Mr Goh: When did Mao Zedong die?
Everyone: 1976.
Mr Goh: That’s the year I was born!
G. Yap: Maybe you’re the incarnation of Mao, sir! Maybe you, too, can rise to become a great world leader!

The Orator’s Trophy – An Inter Secondary School National Oratorical Competition

By Anne Tan

On the 21st of Feb 09, the inaugural Orator’s Trophy was held. Formerly an invitational known as the Zhou Yi Nian Inter-Secondary School Oratorical Competition, this year we made it a national tournament by inviting all schools in Singapore. With 36 schools from all over the country, it was by far one of the largest turnout for any oratorical competition in Singapore.  For those of you who are not familiar with oratorical/debate, an oratorical competition is different from a debate as there is no clash between 2 teams; instead an individual just has to make a speech about a given topic. A winner is decided based on delivery and content. There are only a few other oratorical competitions in Singapore as unlike debate, oratorical competitions are not as explored a field. Also unlike the other oratorical competitions, our tournament was completely impromtu . This means the contestant knows the topic 5 minutes beforehand. This made it both challenging for us and the competitor, though for very different reasons. This is why I must commend all our finalist for what they did that day. 4 impromtu speeches is no joke, even if you do tell some during the speech!

The winner of the Orator’s Trophy 2009 was Nishanti of MGS. First runner’s up was Jennifer of NYGH and Jonah of ACS(I) took third place. The theme of the competition was “Humanity” with the competitors speaking on topics such as “Anger” during the preliminary round to the topic “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, courage is all that counts” (Winston Churchill) during the finals. The refreshing and varied takes on perennial topics about “humanity” was indeed entertaining both for the judges and for the audience.

I would like to thank all the participants for coming and being part of it; a competition is as interesting as the competitiors. Also I must thank the judges, the teachers and alumni who spent their Saturday with us, as a competition is only as credible as the judges.

A competition is only as efficient as the organising committee and the society running it are. From an administrative point of view I would not say that everything went smoothly. We had lag time and hiccups along the way. I wish I could turn back the clock and do it all over again with the knowledge I have now so I could do everything right. However, you and I both know that that is not possible.

Some people tell me that my standards are too high and that I should ‘take it easy’, it’s normal and expected that there will be hiccups along the way. The important thing is that we reacted fast enough and make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes. I am feel both heartened and humbled as I think of the things we did right and the things we did wrong yesterday. I am heartened as I remind myself that no one in Singapore has ever done what we did yesterday. I had no precedence to draw from when making plans, as no one has ever done what we did on such a scale. I am humbled by the many lessons I learnt in organising an efficient competition. Yesterday was a good reminder of all the things I did not know.

 In ACJC, we hope that every year will surpass the last and seniors always come back to lend a hand. We have a culture of excellence that we pursue the only way we can, with hard work and a sense of fun. As I told the J1s during the debrief, we have a”debate tradition” for a reason so remember today and make sure you do it better next year.

The Zhou Yi Nian Cup

By OriAna

This week, the Orator’s Trophy was held in ACJC. This Inter Secondary School Oratorical Competition was formerly called the Zhou Yi Nian Cup, so named after an alumnus who sponsored the cup.

Nicol, as he is more commonly known, is from the class of 2003. In ACJC he was an Arts student and debater. Now he is studying at Amherst University in the USA. A man of contrast, it is sometimes hard for me to reconcile the person who mocks me in debates with the generous person that he also is. I still have memories of him using his loud and distinctive voice as well as his overwhelming physical presence to tear down the cases that I present in a debate. Of course, that’s just a debate and he is really an incredibly kind person (not just because he sponsored the Cup and agreed to this interview) who will still come back during his holidays to spar with the present debate team and buy gummies just because my team mate likes them and she gets hungry easily.

Seeing that the Orator’s Trophy was given out yesterday, I thought that an interview with its namesake would be nice as we are reminded of the people who just keep contributing … an inspiration to us, in the present, to keep coming back too. Since he is overseas, the interview  took place via Facebook and is as follows:

1. Did you always want to come to ACJC? Why?

I didn’t always want to come to ACJC, and I didn’t actually identify strongly with the Methodist Schools culture, even though I was from FMSS. I wanted to go to RJ  but as it happened my grades weren’t good enough, so I ended up in ACJC.

2. How did your ACJC experience impact you?
The ACJC experience was transformative for me in the sense that I went from being a mediocre student, academically to being quite academically accomplished. I was offered significant academic opportunities as well as a lot of extra-curricular ones, and that really put me in a position to apply to elite American colleges, in a way that I didn’t really imagine was possible before. Even though I came from a school outside the top tier, and even though I didn’t have stellar grades coming into ACJC, I was offered so many chances to succeed and that is something I’ll always be grateful for. I’m especially indebted to Mrs Creffield and Mr Ngoei for their help in the university admissions process.

3. Were alumni a big part of your ACJC experience?

I actually didn’t have too much contact with the alumni, (besides Mr Ngoei and Mrs Creffield), although my secondary school debate coach was another famous former AC boy, Jason Chan, who did have a significant impact on my love for debate. The alumni were very committed to coming back to judge at debate tournaments of course  but because I wasn’t on the main team in JC1 I didn’t have that much exposure to them outside that setting.

 4. What role did debate play in your ACJC experience?
Debate was pretty crucial, given that it was my main CCA.  Although I wasn’t a major part of the team, I did learn a great deal from the experience and gained a love for the activity that has yet to die. ACJC debate was most crucial because so many of my best friends (as well as classmates) in Singapore were fellow debaters and the teachers who would prove most important to me were in charge of the debate team.

5. What role do you think the debating society plays in ACJC?
I think ACJC Debate has played an important role in the college’s history and culture, and I hope it will continue to do so. It showcases the talent that ACJC students have and our long history of competitive success against schools that are supposedly academically superior demonstrates the resilience and excellence of our team culture.

 6. You have seen quite a few batches of ACJC debaters as you come back and spar, how have they changed if at all? Or is there a quality that unites them all?

It’s different every year but every batch (bar a few bad seeds) is willing to work hard and challenge themselves to get better. Although our core demographic has changed now that ACS(i) and MGS are sending fewer students to ACJC, our programme continues to demonstrate significant achievements, something that is impressive and a testament to the talented coaching staff and dedicated alumni who help to bring the team along every year.

 7. Has your ACJC experience prepared you for life?

As much as I could have hoped it would. It certainly gave me the opportunity to excel much more than secondary school ever did. I became a much stronger writer and critical thinker at ACJC, skills that continue to serve me well and I made friends who are still dear to me. This is probably the most important thing anyone can take away from any experience.